Duty
by nublados
Summary: One-shot. As a shinobi, it is not about you or what you want. Everything must be sacrificed for the village. Even love.


"We cannot."

If truth were to be told, TenTen had expected this answer. However, that did not diminish the stab of hurt she felt in her chest.

"Why?" she asked in a clear, detached voice.

Neji took a few moments to consider his words, studying the familiar layout of their training area. The bark was peeling off of a few sycamore trees. Shedding its skin.

"It would be selfish," was his answer.

TenTen considered this for a moment. Of course he was right. It would be devastatingly selfish. And their entire nature as shinobi was to be decidedly selfless. Personal desires should not factor in.

She stood from her place on the ground, meeting his eyes when he turned to look at her. She nodded, and exited the training area without another word.

Neji watched her go, feeling his shoulders slump a little in heaviness. He glanced back at the peeling bark on the sycamores and wished he could be more impulsive, like Naruto or Lee.

But he was Neji Hyuga. He had his path. TenTen had hers. And unfortunately, those paths, however close together, could never be permitted to cross.

So, two heavy-hearted shinobi returned to their homes and attempted to forget what they felt and remember the source of duty.

* * *

But duty can only squash feeling so much.

"On your right!" Neji called out to his partner.

TenTen ducked as six shuriken whistled by her side, skimming her clothes.

"Thanks," TenTen gruffly responded, flipping her bo staff in her hand as she jumped up to confront her attacker head-on.

"Leave him," Neji advised.

But TenTen ignored her teammate and flashed to her opponent, striking quick and fast as she whipped him across the face with her staff. He fell hard to the ground and didn't move. Unconscious.

"Are you done?" asked Neji from behind her, his tone unamused.

TenTen wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"I wasn't going to let him just get away," she responded.

Neji sighed.

"We're not after him. He's an underling."

TenTen's eyes met Neji's, and for a split-second he could see her irritation with him.

"And? He almost killed me. If I hadn't done something about him, he would have followed us, or worse—let his master know we were coming."

"I was going to deal with it when the time was right."

"Well, now you don't have to, do you?"

With seemingly the last word on the subject, TenTen started walking towards the town their target was inhabiting.

Neji attempted to forget their disagreement for the moment and focus on their mission, but the defiant gleam in TenTen's eyes kept resurfacing in his mind. Neji clenched his jaw and surpassed her to take the lead in their advance.

TenTen raised an eyebrow at his expression of dominance and felt her annoyance deepen.

"Lure him up to one of the bedrooms in the pub, and we'll deal with him there," Neji imparted before disappearing in the dark, presumably to find a good stakeout spot where he could watch everything unfold.

TenTen was on her own . . . sort of.

She stole into a bathhouse and changed into something more provoking. TenTen always looked at missions like these with a cold and distant precision. Little was required of her physically other than to look good and flirt a little. Nothing had ever gotten out-of-hand, at least, not yet. And with Neji present, it was unlikely that it ever would.

TenTen finished preparing herself and checked her reflection. The make-up covered up her plainness, and the ornaments she'd fixed in her hair set off the oily strands.

Absently, TenTen wondered how she could feel so crummy when she looked the opposite.

With her appropriate attire on, TenTen exited the bathhouse and found the establishment frequented by their target.

He was a drug lord of the lower Fire Country, spreading his seedy influence into almost every town across the state. Frankly put, he was becoming a pain in the ass.

She spotted him as soon as she entered. He was tucked into a corner with a few of his cronies, smoking. TenTen quickly analyzed his company—shinobi by the looks of them, and armed by how their clothes hung. She would have to make him come to her, then.

TenTen seated herself in their target's direct line of vision, taking care to let him see her profile only. She allowed the fabric of her kimono to slip a little and reveal a bare shoulder.

Now, to wait.

It didn't take too long for him to notice her. In her peripheral, TenTen watched as the drug lord analyzed her for several long moments. And then he was rising from his place and excusing himself from his guards, arriving at her table. He chose not to sit until she gestured the open chair for him.

Grinning, he sat.

"You are not drinking in a bar?" were his first words, clear and measured.

TenTen permitted a demure smile to grace her lips.

"Alcohol dulls the senses," was her inviting reply.

He chuckled at that and let his eyes drift over her, re-analyzing that bare shoulder.

"You are too pretty to be in a place as ugly as this," he said after a moment.

"I don't know," TenTen silkily responded. "I think it suits me. I'm not as soft as I look."

That gained his interest. His eyebrows lifted a little.

"Is that so?" he murmured, some dark purpose hidden in his question.

TenTen smiled again, a little more daring.

"Want to find out?"

His eyes raked her once more, and then they were standing, with TenTen easily leading him upstairs.

Contrary to what TenTen expected, her target was fairly respectful to her person as she led him to a bedroom. His hand only lingered on her bare shoulder and her back as they progressed up the stairs. Still, it made her uncomfortable. Intimate caresses such as those were supposed to be reserved for someone she cared about, not criminals. Another sacrifice to duty.

TenTen tried to control her features as her thoughts lingered on that fact, telling herself that now was not the time for reflection.

"Here," she muttered, sensing Neji's presence through one of the rooms.

The drug lord smiled kindly and followed her in, shutting the door behind them.

His decorum somewhat faltered behind closed doors, but it wasn't anything TenTen hadn't expected. He grasped her waist tightly and kissed her neck, his beard scratching the smoothness of her throat.

TenTen found Neji in the room. He was situated in a corner that led to what appeared to be a small closet. In the dark, he was striking. His Byakugan was activated, but as their gazes met, his pupils disappeared. His expression remained strained.

TenTen decided to go ahead and get it over with.

She turned her head to the drug lord and let him run his tongue over her mouth, inviting him in. Using her index finger, TenTen gestured Neji forward when the target was completely unaware, lost in their kiss.

Swiftly and silently, Neji moved forward and struck the drug lord in the back with his Gentle Fist technique. In a matter of seconds, their target crumpled to the floor, paralyzed and unconscious.

Flushed, TenTen glanced up at her partner, immediately arrested by his gaze. His jaw was set in annoyance.

He treated her to a harsh glare.

"Was that really necessary?" he inquired curtly.

TenTen crossed her arms.

"What? The kiss? What did you expect me to do, let him rape me as soon as we walked in?"

Neji's face darkened with displeasure.

"That's not funny," he responded.

"What did you want me to do, Neji? Have a little chat with him? He would have been immediately suspicious."

"Fine," he snapped, bending down to manage their unaware target.

TenTen felt almost blind with frustration as she bent down to help him. How dare he question her methods? Didn't he trust her at all? She had no ulterior motives! How could he be so base as to suggest that she had handled the situation undesirably?!

"Forget it," Neji said as she helped to shift the body onto Neji's back. "We have to finish the mission."

"I know," she replied shortly.

Neji chose not to respond, and TenTen made no other word—a silent agreement that they would discuss things once their target was taken care of. With that, they fled the upper room to return home.

* * *

Neji sat in the trees facing TenTen's home, contemplative.

He _really_ didn't want to pick up the conversation that had abruptly ended on their mission. It wasn't because he was scared of her wrath or of her anger. Neji just didn't want to broach the subject he thought they had couched that day at the training grounds. And it was inevitable that that was where they would end up, yet again.

It was painful enough to go through it once.

He watched as TenTen flitted by through the kitchen window, her brow furrowed in consternation. Neji could guess what she was doing—going over the finer points in their argument in her mind and finding ways out. Re-playing situations in her head was how she tended to problem-solve. It was why she was such a good markswoman.

Sucking up his courage, Neji jumped down from the tree and crossed the road. TenTen opened the door before he could knock, sensing his chakra enough to anticipate him.

She raised an eyebrow as he entered.

"Were you watching me?"

"Not like that," Neji answered resignedly.

Neji could tell she was still skeptical, but she let it go, closing the door behind him. She followed him into the kitchen where she assembled a cup of tea for him, even though he declined.

They sat across the table, not speaking, as Neji took polite sips of tea.

TenTen broke the silence first, as she was prone to do.

"Did you criticize my methods because you were jealous?"

Neji wanted to roll his eyes, but he was tired of playing offensively.

"Yes," he answered.

TenTen's face betrayed no surprise at his easy admission.

"Did you let him kiss you like that to make me jealous?" Neji asked in turn.

TenTen squirmed a little under his gaze, but finally said, "Yes."

A degree of hurt filtered through Neji's features. He quickly dismissed it, but not before TenTen saw.

"Why were you angry with me for disarming the shinobi in the woods?" TenTen questioned softly.

"Because you were putting yourself at unnecessary risk. I was going to take care of him, but you beat me to it out of vengeance."

"He tried to kill me."

"I'm aware of that," Neji replied. "But you let yourself be swayed by challenges in battle, and that is dangerous."

"I can't just stand by and allow anyone within range to get a shot at me," TenTen responded testily, her voice rising.

"TenTen," murmured Neji, his tone soothing. "Don't you know that I will always be there to have your back? Don't you trust me anymore?"

TenTen felt her resolve falter a little under his words, but she shook her head.

"This isn't about trust, Neji," she whispered. "This is about being selfless."

Neji stared at her. His words from all those months ago were coming back to haunt him like this?

"What do you mean?" he asked, his mouth a thin line of discontent.

TenTen sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"I was looking out for myself so you didn't have to. You shouldn't have to protect me, since I'm more than capable of protecting myself. It would be manipulative for me to act as if I can't handle my own problems. It would be selfish to make you do things for me I could do myself, like take out that shinobi. It's my duty."

"That's not what I meant, when I said that," said Neji tightly.

"I won't make myself a burden to you," TenTen informed quietly.

"You are no burden," Neji said. "This conversation is a burden. Your reasoning is a burden."

"But it's what you want, isn't it?" demanded TenTen, her brown eyes questioning. "You don't want to be entangled in someone else's life because a shinobi is supposed to live a life devoted to the village. There isn't room for personal desires in that, right?"

Neji's shoulders slumped a little in defeat. Everything she said was right. He had been unfair to her, letting his expectations rule his decisions in the field. And his expectations went against the very words he'd told her. At least TenTen was trying to do as he had said.

Slowly, his eyes raised to meet hers, penitent.

"Come here," he said gently.

A small flicker of indignant defiance crossed TenTen's features, but she obeyed without a word, rising to stand next to his chair.

Carefully, Neji ran his hand up her arm and into her hair, letting his fingers knot.

He stood, effectively invading all of her space. TenTen stared up at him, and Neji could barely hold down his emotions with the look of hope in her eyes.

He pressed his lips to her, chaste at first, but then more desperate, desirous.

They broke for breath, and looked at each other.

"Forgive me," Neji breathed, wondering at how he could have kept himself from her for so long.

"Okay," was TenTen's easy answer, one corner of her mouth lifted in amusement.

And it was then that the two previously heavy-hearted shinobi learned that their greatest duty was to their heart.

* * *

_Thanks for reading._


End file.
